Page 27 - The Badger - Issue 8

THE BADGER Celebrating 125 Years of The Downs
Sport
As another sporting innings at The Downs ends, and we look forward to family holidays to all parts of the globe, it gives us all time to reflect upon an incredibly busy, but more importantly, successful year on the sports field.
The last three terms have gone by in a flash, but all the children have accomplished a great deal, and every single one of them should feel immensely
proud of the effort and dedication they have put into their sport. Invariably, some individuals and teams have enjoyed more success than others, and that is the beauty of sport, but win or lose, all our children have ultimately been successful at one point or other. Sometimes the biggest success is being able to pick oneself up from a fall, dust oneself down and carry on.
This year saw the introduction of SOCS Sport on the school portal, and I hope that this has proven to be an excellent and easy-to-use addition whilst trying to navigate the numerous team sheets and distant venues we travel to.
In the Autumn Term, there were some brilliant performances from our teams on the rugby and hockey fields, with the Senior teams in particular winning far more matches than they lost. The Senior boys’ rugby team had a fantastic season, only losing four matches out of sixteen, and this included a first victory over Haberdashers’ Monmouth that I can certainly remember!
Back in the Spring Term, the 1st Netball team won the Malvern District Tournament for the eighth consecutive year, and the squad once again went on to represent the County. The standard of the netball the girls played was exceptional, with the team showing a strong grasp of advanced tactics and cohesive play. Our footballers and hockey players also played some good matches, and the Cross-Country team continued to excel in various meetings, including the National Prep Schools’ event held at Malvern College. Rory A had a particularly successful season, where he represented the school at the National Schools’ finals at Stoneleigh in March; it was an incredibly tough event, and Rory learnt a great deal from the experience!
The Senior Rugby 7s squad performed brilliantly and played a terrific brand of sevens rugby, both at the King’s Worcester and Rosslyn Park Festivals. The boys were only denied a clean sweep of victories at Rosslyn Park by a last play try in a match against Winchester House, a team who had beaten us convincingly at an earlier festival at Bilton Grange!
We also hosted a hugely successful Under 9 Primary Schools’ Football Festival, where it was fantastic to see so many young children enjoying their sport.
27